Recruiters work with what they are given and many may not necessarily understand the key disciplines of a role; frequently, good Project Management candidates with credible backgrounds and experience will get discounted due to the client stipulating that they ‘must have specific experience with X technology’ which can lead to their representative agencies having a ‘target fixation’ on that aspect as the initial qualifying factor, excluding those with a more suitable wealth of the experience required, let me explain…

– Are you expecting a project manager to configure a system you are changing?

– Are you expecting the project manager to design the infrastructure topology?

– Are you expecting the project manager to set up the system security and identity management policy?

I hope not that’s the role of our super technical / CTO colleagues, who have the experience and qualifications to do that.

– Are you expecting the project manager to collaborate with stakeholders so that the right people with the technology experience can decide how set things up?

– Are you expecting the project manager to be aware and understand the aspect undergoing change to coordinate effectively with technical colleagues?

Yes, that’s reasonable.

Awareness and understanding help project managers work with experienced people to deliver the outcome effectively.

There is a view on a surprisingly large number of job descriptions and role requirements that project managers can only deliver something if they have direct experience with a singular technology, almost implying that ‘hands-on’ experience is required.

What is required is an understanding and awareness of a technology area, the impact of change and transformation, and where and how that fit’s within a business or critical operational environment.

If your project is: “IT related change and transformation within an enterprise environment”, then that headline should be the initial search criteria before discriminating on a specific technology and cutting a prospect field in half, especially as that an enterprise environment has technical people with the necessary experience and skill; It is the role of the project manager to coordinate with those qualified members of the team to ensure they have everything they need and be at the right place at the right time

Look for project managers who have experience working with teams across different departments and multiple industry sectors who can deal with complex environments, manage fast-paced work effectively and communicate across boundarys.

Good project managers are adaptable and qualified to apply their skills to successfully deliver change accross multiple enviornments.

It’s more important than ever to be selective when searching for the right experiance for project management. The risks are impact on your business, and loss of money and time you just can’t get back.